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Iowa Firefighters Ousted After Requesting Tax Spend Documents
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- A Delaware Township volunteer fire chief and a firefighter have been fired one day after they requested information about how tax dollars are being spent by the town's trustees.
Anna Paige, the former firefighter, says she will start a petition to have the state conduct an audit of the township's finances after she and former chief Wes Harper were fired on Wednesday.
"What we are worried about is that there is money deposited monthly into an account they control," Harper said. "But we don't know how it's spent. And every time we ask for money, they say we don't have any."
It was the second time in 11 years that the trustees fired their volunteer fire chief.
In 1998, a former township fire chief sued the trustees after he was fired. While a district court judge said the trustees are allowed to fire volunteer firefighters, the volunteers should be given a hearing and grounds for termination before trustees can make a final decision.
Township trustee Linda Hart says the two are disgruntled former employees with a grudge against the new chief.
"This is just disgruntled volunteers is what it is," Hart said, adding that she had no problem with an audit.
Hart told The Des Moines Register the two were told why they were fired, but would not elaborate on the reason.
The township's three-member board of trustees is overseen by the Polk County Board of Supervisors.
Polk County officials say the township receives about $125,000 annually for fire protection.
A day before the firings, Paige said she asked for three years' worth of financial statements and expense reports.
Paige said she had asked for financial information from trustees before for grants to buy new equipment, but decided she wanted more than was provided because she said firefighters didn't know on what trustees were spending their money.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
Anna Paige, the former firefighter, says she will start a petition to have the state conduct an audit of the township's finances after she and former chief Wes Harper were fired on Wednesday.
"What we are worried about is that there is money deposited monthly into an account they control," Harper said. "But we don't know how it's spent. And every time we ask for money, they say we don't have any."
It was the second time in 11 years that the trustees fired their volunteer fire chief.
In 1998, a former township fire chief sued the trustees after he was fired. While a district court judge said the trustees are allowed to fire volunteer firefighters, the volunteers should be given a hearing and grounds for termination before trustees can make a final decision.
Township trustee Linda Hart says the two are disgruntled former employees with a grudge against the new chief.
"This is just disgruntled volunteers is what it is," Hart said, adding that she had no problem with an audit.
Hart told The Des Moines Register the two were told why they were fired, but would not elaborate on the reason.
The township's three-member board of trustees is overseen by the Polk County Board of Supervisors.
Polk County officials say the township receives about $125,000 annually for fire protection.
A day before the firings, Paige said she asked for three years' worth of financial statements and expense reports.
Paige said she had asked for financial information from trustees before for grants to buy new equipment, but decided she wanted more than was provided because she said firefighters didn't know on what trustees were spending their money.
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Don Vuletic on
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Sounds like thier hiding something. Hopefully the firefighters will get thier hearing and the financial documents. Shame on the trustees if they are wrong. what happened to the fredom of information act
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Perhaps the trustees should be schooled in the Freedom of Information Act.
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Permalink Reply by FFtrainer on
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It is amazing how little people know about the Freedom of Information Act. The same sort of thing happens here if someone asks for paperwork. They don't get fired but they are labeled as troublemakers.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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Is there more to the story than what's reported? Me thinks there is....
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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I wonder if the Chief and Firefighter can sue the township's three-member board of trustees personnally? Not that I'm suggesting that this should occur, it just seems odd that someone can arbitrarily fire you without reason and it really seems fishy in conjunction with their asking for a financial audit. Freedom of Information... now there's a concept that they need to think about here. So much is not being shared, remembering that there is always two sides. But it seems that this issue is personal, which may make it applicable for civil litigation should the firing not be justified?
Mike
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Permalink Reply by Trainer on
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Hell their not asking for an audit, they wanted to see public records, I’m with Lutan, there’s more here than meets the eye. These records in Illinois have to be posted in a newspaper annually. This appears to be another set of old farmer trustees that don’t want their taxes to go up. Sounds like a job for ChiefReason!!!, I’ve seen him go after people like this before
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Permalink Reply by Brandon on
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sounds like that the trustees are hiding something considering, its the second time they fired a volunteer fire chief in 11 years. I am very surprised that they even denied the chief to the records considering he is running the department, so..............he should had been able to know what his department budget, not off the trustees words. Man, now days, you almost can't trust anyone with some things............considering it is the public tax dollars at work. If i am paying taxes in that area, i would want to know what it is really being used for.
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Permalink Reply by rich smith on
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Hmmmmmm fireing a voulenteer??????? 125000 is a nice budget for a voulenteer co. tell them to hire a paid staff and then see what the budget would be......if we didn't have voluenteers we would be screwed and to fire them is an insult to the fire service with the state of the economy these days the "trustees"should be happy to have voulenteers ready and willing to risk there lives for FREE to help a neighbor or a stranger or even a "trustee"if need be...
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Permalink Reply by Colby on
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I used to work with the former fired Fire Chief Wes Harper. I know him to be a honest, hardworking individual and I know his reasons were valid for asking them of such a request. I hope this gets worked out and Wes Harper gets reinstated as the Chief. Ryan Buman the new chief does not have the experience nor does he have the leadership capabilities to lead a department of this size and area it covers. May this issue come to fruition for the benefit of the Fire Chief that was removed from his position.
Volunteer Firefighters make up the majority of those that protect our cities and townships, we need more and more help and to remove those that help is like cutting the roots of a tree.
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My guess an audit will show no inappropriate spending. I went to the papers web and read some of the comments, sounds like this chief may have made a mistake on protocol for an EMS call, but that may have been the trustees just looking for an excuse. Are these trustees elected or appointed? They (FF's) have community support; will be interesting to see what comes out of the upcoming meeting.
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